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The use of an electronic payment system will not only help
promote transparency and efficiency but could also help fight
fraud or other forms of illegal payment, especially in the procurement
of goods and services.
Director for the government and public sector of Visa International
Asia Pacific, Dennis NG, told a seminar Thursday that the
use of the electronic payment system in the government's procurement
activities could help save a lot in state funds.
Besides helping to reduce transaction costs, the electronic payment
system, he added, could prevent government officers from
marking up payments because it did not use documents such as receipts.
"Normally, the government uses cash in making purchases. For
verification, government officers usually use receipts that in
some cases could be counterfeited," he said.
With the electronic system, he said, payment would be made with cards
and the payment receipts would be verified by the
transaction statements issued by card-issuers, making it difficult for
card users to cheat the system.
"In addition to promoting transparency and efficiency, the use of cards
can also help cut transaction costs as there is no
cost charged by the card issuers for the card usage," he said. "With
the use of such as card, the holder can also receive
special discounts from suppliers," he added.
For instance, he said, the British government was able to save US$100
million annually after adopting the system. The U.S.
government also saved $1.4 billion of the 2004 national budget thanks
to the use of the electronic payment system, he said.
Currently, he said, the system is used in government offices in a
number of other countries such as Australia, Singapore,
Brazil, Thailand and Germany.
"The Thai government implemented its government services card in
February 2006 and as of today, 80 agencies out of 217 have
already signed up with the program," he said.
Visa International Asia Pacific country manager Ellyana C. Fuad said
that she had talked with some government institutions in
Indonesia about the program.
"They will study the program and hopefully they will join us soon," she
said.
She added that if there were state institutions interested in joining
the program, then Visa would cooperate with banks to
issue such cards.
Currently, there are seven banks in Indonesia that issue Visa Debit
cards including Bank Permata, Bank Lippo, Bank Niaga,
Bank Buana, Bank Bukopin, Bank Mega and Bank Mandiri.
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